You are looking at a rare VINTAGE beauty, an early-80's genuine Made-in-USA Fender Bullet Bass Deluxe.This is a long-scale (34") bass with a gorgeous "glassed" or glossy maple neck and GLOSSY MAPLE FRETBOARD, which I have always vastly preferred over rosewood for some reason.The body has that beautiful and rare Fender "transparent walnut" color which shows the wood grain nicely.  The Bullet was designed to be a so-called "student model" but with the top-notch 1983 USA Fender build quality and the rare (for a student model) transparent walnut finish, it doesn't look or play like a student model, it looks and sounds and plays like a pro!I bought this bass used in about 1993 and have owned it ever since. I have played with it and gigged around with it, so it's got a few minor nicks. Other than that, it has lived exclusively in my smoke-free studio. Nicks: It has one pretty decent whack on the front upper edge of the body (see pics). It also has a couple of little chips on the finish of the fretboard on the 7th fret (see pics). Also has one tiny nick in the fretboard finish at the bottom edge of the fretboard at the first fret (see pics).  These small fretboard finish nicks do

not affect playability in any way. Other than those, all the other nicks and whatnot are totally minor.Dates: I'm not sure it is a 1983 model, but I think they only made these between 1982 and 1984 () so it's right in there somewhere.  I remember I took the neck off to look for the date stamp at one point, but it was either too faded to read or maybe I just don't remember what it said. According to Fender history (), the "production dates" for this item's serial number range between 1979 and 1981. So that means it's a...????? Whatever! It's a VINTAGE CLASSIC!Pickguard: This bass has the original single-ply cream-colored pickguard, it is in almost perfect shape with no cracks. Amazing, because apparently a lot of these tend to get broken around the input jack. And you can't just pick up a replacement pickguard anywhere, like you can with a P-bass.  Always wanted to get a custom-made pearloid pickguard made for it but never got around to it, it's actually not very expensive to do.Body: Weight of this Bullet Bass guitar with no strap is approximately 8.6 lbs. No idea what wood the body is made of; if you find authoritative info on that, please let me know!  Although the body has no cutouts or slopes to accommodate contact with your body and/or arm, the body is fairly thin (about 1.64" thick) and has nicely rounded edges, and I've always found it very comfortable to hold and play.  And lastly, the lower horn on the body has a hole drilled in it for a strap button; apparently the previous owner played it left-handed / upside down. The Bridge: Original bridge saddles were the "threaded" variety, like on a Jaguar guitar, but after so many years the old saddle height screws and intonation adjustment screws were rusted solid and couldn't be adjusted, so I replaced them with more modern saddles with the single groove type. The intonation adjustment screws and springs are new too. The bridge plate itself, however, is original. The E and G saddles are currently "decked" which gives excellent contact with the bridge plate for great resonance, but that means they cannot be adjusted lower (see more under the Action section, next). The saddle height adjustment screws have been replaced with nice short ones, so that they currently do not stick up above the saddles, which means you can place the heel of your hand on the saddles for muting without getting your hand all cut up.Action: String action is excellent, it is currently 2.5 mm at the 12th fret at E and also at the G. Since the E and G saddles are "decked" (see above), if you want the action lower you will have to shim the neck a bit.Neck, truss rod and tuners: All excellent. Truss rod is in good working condition, haven't had to adjust it in years. Neck is overall straight, not warped or anything weird. Nut width is 1.67". The nut itself is in good shape. The finish on the tuners is dulled with age but they work perfectly and stay in tune great. The glossy maple neck and fretboard have that awesome aged, "vintage" look, not that awful new-looking bright-white maple. Fretboard radius measures out at 7.5" according to my gauges. I never realized it before but this is a "rounder" and more natural-feeling fretboard (for my taste) than many other basses with flatter fretboards.  It plays like a dream!  Fret wear is extremely minimal for a guitar this age (as to be expected, since I've owned it since 1993 and I am only a part-time amateur player). The neck is thin, not a baseball bat like some other basses I've played -- it is thin and fast. And that Tele-style headstock really makes this bass stand out in a crowd!Mustang Pickups: The awesome Fender Mustang pickups on this Bullet are of course humbucking like P-bass pickups, but they are not quite as powerful or "in your face" as P-bass pickups. If you've never played Mustang pickups, my opinion is that they are among the most "natural" sounding pickups out there -- the intrinsic sound of the natural bass guitar really shines through.Shielding: Although the Mustang pickups are naturally humbucking, this bass used to pick up some EM noise -- at least until I took everything apart and sheilded the body cavity with copper foil.  I must have done a great job, because this is the quietest bass you will ever hear, even at volume 10.  In my studio (at one time I owned 13 guitars and basses), this Bullet bass is literally the gold standard that I compare every other guitar to, when it comes to pickup and EM noise. Pots & Jack: Pots are in great working order, no noise at all and excellent rotational movement. The volume pot has a nice smooth curve to the range, it doesn't drop off in volume too sharply or anything weird like that. (I've seen way too many volume pots that essentially stay in the 9 to 10 volume range until you are almost at zero. This guitar isn't like that!)  Additionally, the volume/tone circuitry has no treble bleed problem. (Amazing how many expensive guitars still ship these days with a treble bleed issue!!! Can't even tell you how many treble bleed caps I've had to solder in. It's weird that a 1983 student model wouldn't have this problem.) The input jack is also rock-solid.Strings: This Bullet bass is currently strung with amazing Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats, a $70 value. These strings sound very natural, and are famous for aging well, you can use the same set for a decade and they almost keep getting better with age. They are also famous for being one of the most "musical sounding" strings you can buy. Seriously, even if you're not a "flats" person, give these strings a chance!Hard Case: This Bullet bass comes with, and will ship in, a hard-shell case, a black "Freedom" case by SKB. Approximately $100 value if you had to buy a bass case new.  It is of the plastic variety with nice black plushy interior. It's not a cool or trendy case but it's got four good working buckles and a handle that is intact, so it will get the job done. The case is in like-new, excellent condition.